Wisconsin mammals

Eastern Mole in Wisconsin

Scalopus aquaticus

Native to Wisconsin S5 Secure in Wisconsin

Not listed as nonindigenous in Wisconsin by USGS NAS; native to its Wisconsin range.

IUCN Red List status

  1. LC
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX

LC – Least Concern

Widespread and abundant; not at risk.

Eastern Mole in Wisconsin, by the numbers

Occasional in Wisconsin 39th most recorded of 75 mammals logged in Wisconsin

66 occurrence records
65 with iNaturalist photos
Jul 6, 2026 Last seen in Wisconsin

Records from 2000–2026.

66 total records count every Wisconsin occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the map plots a georeferenced sample of 64; the monthly chart covers the 64 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Eastern Mole in Wisconsin

Most sightings fall in June to September.

64 Wisconsin occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence.

Monthly Wisconsin records (table)
MonthRecords
January0
February1
March1
April3
May5
June14
July11
August9
September9
October6
November3
December2

Monthly eastern mole occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in Wisconsin, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in Wisconsin, with recorded sightings peaking in June–September.

Occurrence map

Where Eastern Mole has been recorded in Wisconsin

64 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

64 Wisconsin records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Hoffman Hills Recreation Area 2
Mirror Lake State Park 1
Blue Mound State Park 1
Poynette Game Farm 1
Interstate Park-Iansr 1
Wildcat Mountain State Park 1
La Crosse River State Trail 1
Wyalusing State Park 1

Protected places with the most eastern mole sightings, from the USGS Protected Areas Database plus named mountain ranges, good spots to look, not a full breakdown, so they don't sum to the total.

Where it's recorded in Wisconsin

CountyRecords
Dane County 12
Sauk County 5
Jackson County 4
Dunn County 4
Vernon County 4
Columbia County 4
Monroe County 4
La Crosse County 4
Iowa County 3
Green County 2
Burnett County 2
Waukesha County 2
10 other counties 16

The complete county distribution, spread across 22 Wisconsin counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

Wisconsin records follow the state’s southern and central belt of workable soils, including the Ice Age Trail corridor, Kettle Moraine, and the country around Horicon. Moles are more often detected by fresh ridges or incidental finds than seen alive; the May–June and late-summer pulses coincide with active soils, yard work, trail use, and field surveys.

The 65 iNaturalist reports are detections, not a count of Eastern Moles. Lawns, gardens, paths, and other accessible ground make tunneling visible, while animals beneath private fields or undisturbed woodland remain largely unreported, so the pattern cannot measure local abundance.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and GBIF.

More mammals in Wisconsin in the atlas

Data & sources

The data and visualizations on this page draw on these open sources:

  • GBIFCC-BY 4.0occurrence records behind the range map, elevation, and record counts
  • iNaturalistCC0 / CC-BY / CC-BY-SAobservations, photos, and audio recordings
  • NatureServe ExplorerCC-BYthe state conservation rank
  • IUCN Red Listattributed factthe global conservation status
  • USGS NASpublic domainnative / introduced status
  • Natural Earthpublic domainthe relief basemap
  • USFSpublic domainnational-forest boundaries
  • USGS Protected Areas Databasepublic domainthe named parks, forests, and refuges behind "notable places to look"